Kolkata: The Narcotics Cell of the Kolkata Police’s Detective Department seized over 65 kg of Ganja (Marijuana) close to the government bus depot at Esplanade on Saturday morning. Four persons, all residents of the Nadia district of West Bengal, were arrested in this connection.
According to an official, the Ganja had been brought from Angul in Odisha and was being taken to Nadia – a district along to the Indo-Bangladesh Border. There may have been plans to smuggle some of the narcotics across the international border to Bangladesh, officials suspect.
“A raid was carried out at 9.30 am, on the basis of credible intelligence inputs, on the eastern side of the pavement of New Road, next to the bus depot. The Ganja was packed in bags and kept next to a temporary tyre repair shop that operates from the pavement. The four accused were arrested when they were in possession of the drugs,” a senior official said.
The four, who have been identified as Arun Biswas (34), from the Kumri Panchanna Mile village in Hogolberia, Nadia, Sujoy Bairagya (41), from the Khaspur Ghoshpara village in Tehatta, Nadia, Subodh Sarkar (41), from Hogolberia and Tapan Kumar Biswas (62), of the Radhanagar village in Palashi, Nadia, were planning to board a bus, when the police team arrived.
Interrogation is underway to trace those who supplied the Ganja to the four villagers. Odisha shares a boundary with West Bengal and has grown into a major source of Ganja over the last few years. Just as West Bengal has emerged as a major distribution centre, with connectivity to the northern and western parts of the country as well as Bangladesh.
In December 2024, the West Bengal CID seized nearly 98 kg Ganja from two sedans at the Dhulagarh toll plaza in Howrah, West Bengal. The vehicles were travelling to Kolkata from Bhadrak in Odisha.
